Hey Folks!
It’s now the first official week for all the DC CW TV Universe as all our heroes are on TV almost every day this week. With the premieres of Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow in addition to The Flash and Arrow on the CW network, everything’s getting set up for each of these shows. So let’s take a look at each of these shows and what happened this week.
Supergirl: "The Adventures of Supergirl"
For a show that was deemed too expensive and didn’t warrant the ratings in needed to remain on CBS, the season premiere of Supergirl was actually hit a rating high for the CW network with more than 3 million viewers, breaking the previous record for the network held by Gossip Girl. The introduction of her famous cousin didn’t hurt either.
The season premiere of Supergirl titled “The Adventures of Supergirl" explored Kara as she went through a few adventures. The first was finally catching up with her cousin Kal-El/Clark Kent, AKA Superman, and they team up to solve a problem in regards an explosion on a space-flight. The other adventure that she had to deal with was the adventures of her love life and she has to try and figure out a way to balance being Kara and being Supergirl at the same time.
Continuing from last year’s season finale, a new alien spaceship landed in National City. She and J'onn J'onzz (Martian Manhunter) discovered that the crashed spaceship is from Krypton. Is this a survivor from her long lost home? Or might something else sinister be happening?
The CW’s take on Superman is actually interesting. Many people have complained that actor Tyler Hoechlin did not have the same look as his big screen counterpart, Henry Cavill. He’s not as built as Cavill. However, it’s arguable that he captures “classic” Superman better than the DCEU version of the character. Hoechlin captures Clark Kent very well. It also seems that the CW version of Superman also canonically with the Christopher Reeve versions of Superman. There are references to Lex Luthor setting off an earthquake (like he did in the original Superman movie) and he is essentially doing a great Christopher Reeve impression when he’s using his Clark Kent alter ego.
The main arc of the show was investigating the shuttlecraft explosion with her cousin. They get to investigate as their alter egos as well, reminding the audience that Clark Kent is a journalist as well as a superhero. Last season Kara was having a career crisis, but after working with her cousin she wants to become a reporter like him. This might be a way to get expensive (and not willing to move to Canada to shoot the show) Calista Flockhart away from a few episodes, but it also allows Kara to be able to do her own thing. The planned victim of the bombing was Lana Luthor, Lex Luthor’s sister desperately trying to distance herself from her criminal family member. By the end of the episode, Kara also stops her relationship with Jimmy as she needs to focus on her new career as well as being Supergirl.
The Flash: "Paradox"
Barry’s meddling with the timeline is still having repercussions. Last week, even though he created the “Flashpoint” alternate reality, he ultimately decided to let it go and have everything return back to normal. Unfortunately, everything did not go back to as it was. Members of his core group were affected in ways that couldn’t be undone.
First off Iris and Joe weren’t on speaking terms. Iris was unable to forgive Joe for lying about her mother’s death and as a result, they weren’t on speaking terms.
Cisco also has been damaged by Barry’s actions. He isn’t the same fun-loving, quip ready Cisco and is also at odds with Barry. In this new timeline, his brother died in a drunk driving accident and Barry was unwilling to go back in time to prevent the accident from happening. It’s ironic because Barry went back in time to save his own mother, but in this new reality told Cisco he wouldn’t do the same for him.
Another ramification is that John Diggle from Arrow had a son instead of a daughter (like in the original time). Originally John and his wife had a daughter. However, when Barry is talking with Arrow’s Felicity, she reveals that he had a son, John Jr. In an alternate timeline from 2046 explored in Legends of Tomorrow, John’s son didn’t like his father, so he changed his name to Connor Hawke and he became the new Green Arrow after Oliver Queen “retired.” This scene shows the effect of Barry messing with the timeline. It’s not just affecting The Flash, but all of the DC CW universe.
This causes a big problem for Barry as he doesn’t remember anything from this new reality. For him, everything should be normal, but these small things are turning into big things. Barry tries to get everyone back together on the same page, since they aren’t the family-like team he remembers from before Flashpoint. He even organizes a dinner for all of them, but it doesn’t work out.
Barry finally reveals to his team what he did. It really upsets Cisco as in his timeline Barry would not go back in time to help his brother Dante, but would for his own mother. The scene is acted well by Grant Gustin as you can definitely see the pain of causing these changes in his friends’ lives has taken a toll on him.
Arrow: "The Recruits"
Last week on Arrow, Oliver finally understood that the old team is done and long gone. In order to be both the mayor and the Green Arrow, he’s going to need to assemble a new team. Last week we got to see a glimpse of the new team members, but now Oliver is going to bring them into the fold.
As he recruited the would-be vigilantes, Oliver had them come to the basement headquarters as he begins their first day of training. Their first activity, ring a bell. The new recruits’ sole task is to get past him to ring the bell. Unfortunately, their only obstacle is The Green Arrow. Oliver gives them some serious hazing and he beats them mercilessly as they try and make it past him. The purpose of the exercise reveals that they must work together in order to accomplish their goals, but they have to figure it out by themselves. This week’s flashback echoes the same sentiment as is shows Oliver’s induction in the Russian Mob and has to go through the same exercise. The end result I the flashback is that Oliver and the mob recruits work together and ring the bell, but the Russian Mob ends up killing everyone besides him. The Green Arrow is more forgiving than the Russian mob, though.
Meanwhile, there’s a new vigilante. Turns out he might not be a good guy or a bad guy. Last week ended with the introduction of Prometheus as he kills a police officer under the guise of Green Arrow. However now he is in his own costume. He’s outfit is similar to Ragman from the comic books as his cowl has magical abilities similar to the cape of Spawn from Image comics (and that terrible film of the 90s). While right now he seems to be attacking corrupt members of Star City, by the end of the episode it's revealed that The Green Arrow is also his target. Is he a metahuman, is he magic? While Arrow is a “street level” show, they still exist in the CW universe so the possibility is there.
Meanwhile, John Diggle is having problems of his own. While he’s overseas in the army, trying to retrieve nuclear bombs leftover from Genesis day so that Chechen can’t retrieve them for their own nefarious purposes. However, he is betrayed by his fellow soldiers as they want to sell the weapons to the highest bidder. Diggle’s corrupt CO sites that they are living in a world with magic and metahumans, what can normal army do against them? He uses Diggle gun to kill other soldiers, so he now in some serious trouble. We all know Oliver will need to reunite with his former parent to help him out.
Legends of Tomorrow: "Out of Time"
Legends of Tomorrow returns with an unexpected beginning. The show kickstarts its premiere with a familiar face guest starring. Arrow’s Oliver Queen is busy being the mayor when Dr. Nate Heywood tries to get into his office to meet with him telling him that the Legends are scattered throughout time. At first, Oliver wants to kick him out as a quack, but then Heywood reveals that he knows Oliver is The Green Arrow and sits down to listen to him.
Once revived, Heatwave retells what happened to the rest of the team. After the end of the Time Masters, the Legends were met by Rex Tyler/Hourman (from last season’s finale) who warned them not to go to New York in 1942 for there would be dire circumstances. The team proceeds to act as the de facto Time Masters, helping ensure the timeline isn’t damaged (looks like they already failed thanks to “Flashpoint”). The audience is treated to them going back to ancient France to ensure that King Louis XIII isn’t assassinated. Sara manages to seduce the queen during all the action and Heatwave steals of jewelry.
After the successful mission, there is a “timequake” revealing a major disaster taking place in New York in 1942. They discover that a nuclear bomb goes off in New York, even though historically the atom bomb was not yet invented. Despite Rex Tyler’s warning, it’s off to 1942 they go! Because it’s WWII, you know the Nazis are involved. The team learns that the Nazis want to kidnap Albert Einstein and force him to create the atom bomb for them to use against New York. So what to the Legends, do? They go and kidnap Einstein themselves. Unfortunately, that doesn’t do the trick as Einstein had a silent partner in all his research, his ex-wife.
The Nazi’s also have a silent partner in the battle as well. Damien Darhk, the big bad guy last season on Arrow (thanks to the Lazarus Pit) is far older than we thought he was and was alive and kicking during 1942. Sara, still angry about her sister Laurel Lance/Black Canary’s death last season on Arrow has been stalking him throughout time since she dies with the hopes of killing a younger version of him. Now she has her chance as he’s with the Nazis. After Ray Palmer talks her out of it earlier in the episode, they meet up during a firefight to save Einstein’s ex-wife. Both have League of Assassin training, so it’s a pretty even match. During the firefight, Heatwave is injured and the team retreats. The Nazi’s still have the bomb and use a sub to launch it. Rip Hunter takes The Waverider underwater to stop it and decided to sacrifice the ship to save New York. In a last minute effort, he sends the Legends (except Heatwave) scattered throughout time so they can survive and proceeds to “go down with the ship.”
In the aftermath, Heatwave and Heywood go throughout history and find the Legends. Ray Palmer is in South Dakota 70 million years ago. They save him last minute before a T-Rex eats him. Firestorm in the form of Jefferson and Martin are in 821 England acting as “wizards” for the amusement of a boy king. Jefferson even uses his smartphone as “magic” to amuse him, but the king is bored and orders their execution, but they are saved by their time-traveling companions. Sara is in Salem during the times of the witch trials and is about to be executed for “happily corrupting” women during that time. The only person they aren’t able to find is their captain Rip Hunter as there is no historical evidence of him. The group sees the last message left by him telling them to continue on his mission of safeguarding time.
Lastly, the Legends are confronted by the Justice Society of America!
